The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for monitoring and managing the life cycle of equipment. More specifically, the present invention relates to apparatus and methods for predicting preventive maintenance periods and component replacement needs.
Machinery requires periodic diagnostic maintenance to detect machine part wear, predict failure, and locate problems. In modern machinery, such as marine machines, cranes, automatic transmissions, turboshaft engines, paper mills, rolling mills, aircraft engines, helicopter transmissions, and high-speed process machinery, failure of bearings, gears and other equipment frequently result in costly productivity loss, severe and expensive secondary damage, and potentially life threatening situations. Equipment failures occur because, over time, gear/bearing assemblies and other parts that are stressed experience wear and damage, such as spalled bearing rolling elements, pitting on gear teeth, and bearing race damage.
To ensure safety and avoid unscheduled interruptions, critical components are typically replaced at conservative fixed intervals based simply on periods of use. However, wear factors such as load magnitudes, displacement distances, time periods under load, and speeds of displacement may heavily influence equipment wear and damage. Consequently, when the wear factors are above normal for a significant period of time, the equipment can prematurely fail. On the other hand, when the wear factors are minimal for a significant period of time, simply relying on periods of use to trigger component replacement can increase the costs of operation. This is because useful component life is wasted, costs are increased due to more frequent maintenance, and productivity is decreased due to more frequent maintenance shutdowns.
There is a need in the art for a system that will more accurately predict preventive maintenance periods and define component replacement needs. Also, there is a need in the art for a method that will more accurately predict preventive maintenance periods and component replacement needs.